post-natal blood pressure. So upset

[weebigmamma]

My dose of Labetalol was put up yesterday but it hasn't made a dent yet. I think they will send me back to hospital if it doesnt come down. Can't stop crying thinking about leaving my baby again (had to go back last week for BP monitoring until it came down). I am now on 300mg in the morning and 200mg at night and my Bp is still 160/95. I have gone from feeling perfectly well to feeling utterly depressed and I couldn't stop crying in front of the midwife this morning so I suppose the next thing is they'll put me on anti depressants as well.

Sorry to hear that weebigmamma How long post-natal are you? Did you start on the Labetalol during pregnancy? BP can take a while to come down I think. I got put on Labetalol for pre-eclampsia with DD1 and had to take it for a few months after DD1 was born - even then my BP was quite high for a bit but it eventually went back to normal. Don't worry too much about crying in front of the midwives - I have done it several times over BP worries and they were always very sympathetic.

Firstly, congratulations on your baby! You really need to keep yourself calm, even though this sounds impossible right now. Of course you're upset and you can cry in front of the midwives without them putting you on antidepressants so don't worry about that. I was in pieces when I had to go back into hospital for an infection and I couldn't stop sobbing, the midwives were lovely and told me that I was only upset because of the situation and not because I needed medication. They were right because once I was sorted out medically and allowed home I didn't feel like that anymore. I worried for weeks about my illness returning but it didn't, once I was out of the danger zone I felt loads better. This is what you have to focus on,

You must start putting things into perspective in order to get better, you sound so stressed out and whilst it is totally understandable you need to stop looking at the worst case scenario because it isn't helping you. I really don't mean to sound harsh here, I really don't - but this is one of the things a friend told me and it helped me so much to get out of the panic and distraught state I was in. After a few awful days everything will be ok and you will be back home, I'm so sorry that you're facing this.

Most hospitals will readmit you to the post natal ward which means you can have your baby with you, I wasn't comfortable because of the nature of my illness but my DH could have brought my baby in every day to see me and then left at night with him. So I know it's not ideal but you don't have to be separated from your baby.

Please try to be easier on yourself and your mind, try some relaxation techniques to focus on your health and getting better. I hope you are feeling much better soon, please come and update us to let us know how you are. Soon everything will be back to normal and you'll be at home.

There's a very long gap between the morning & evening doses. The maximum dose of labetalol is 400mg four times a day. Maybe if your doses were more regular your bp would be controlled better. Could you gently suggest this to your doctor/mw?

Sorry for the late reply, but I wanted to check what I was on for my post natal high blood pressure. When my lo was born they didn't seem to be able to control my blood pressure at all. I was on 200mg of labetalol 3 times a day and still my blood pressure was all over the place. Then they gave me 10mg of nifedipine twice a day on top of the labetalol and that did seem to help control it a bit better. I think I then took the nifedipine for about 2 - 3 weeks before slowly cutting it down and then very slowly reducing the labetalol too.

What I wanted to say though was that there are other options available to them if they are worried about you and they won't necessarily need you to stay in hospital for them. Certainly with me, the doctors were aware that it had been a very stressful time and I think they would much rather have you stay at home and just come in for checks than admit you and a new baby. It's far better for you both to be at home!

I know it's so frustrating though as sometimes you can be feeling fine and yet your bp rockets! It's hard to even stay calm when they're measuring it! Really don't worry about crying in front of the midwife though- they probably see it every day. It's hard enough with a new baby without having health problems yourself. Can you ask the midwife what the next steps will be if your blood pressure doesn't improve and explain that you would rather not be admitted if it can be helped?
Sorry for the rambling message and hope things improve and many congrats on your baby :-)

Hi weebigmamma. I had this and it took several months to get my blood pressure back to normal, have you been on the Labetatol for long? It may take your body a while to adjust to the medication and I ended up on the maximum dose 3 times a day before it started to make a difference.

I would suggest getting a 24 hour blood pressure monitor from your doctor though, my blood pressure was much more stable when measured this way and this convinced the MW not to send me back to hospital. It is very stressful knowing the MW will measure and then action your BP, better getting it measured when you are not really thinking about it.